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Thursday, February 1, 2001
Curnan picks UH St. Louis linebacker Ikaika Curnan wanted to go with his heart. The problem was that it was split in two directions, thousands of miles apart.
The two-time all-state Crusaders'
linebacker wants to
stay homePrep recruiting list.
By Dave Reardon
Star-BulletinIn the end, he made a verbal commitment to accept a football scholarship from the University of Hawaii yesterday afternoon.
It came down to UH and Wisconsin, and the two-time Star-Bulletin first-team all-state player said it was an extremely difficult decision.
"I felt in my heart that it would be great to stay home and have my parents and the rest of my family be able to watch me play in person," said Curnan, whose family lives on Kauai.
"Hawaii has a good academic program and right now I want to major in engineering. I want to make the most out of this decision and be able to earn a college degree and make my parents happy."
At 6-feet and 230 pounds, Curnan was known for his hard-nosed ability to stop the run in Hawaii's toughest prep league, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.
Curnan led St. Louis to a Prep Bowl championship in 1998, the state's first football championship in 1999, and a runner-up finish in 2000.
He said he hopes to help the Rainbows rebound from last year's 3-9 record.
"For me losing is tough to swallow and I want to help the team get back to being a winning program," Curnan said.
Still, it was difficult to pass up the Big-10 powerhouse Badgers, especially since Curnan felt he really bonded with the coaching staff when he visited.
"I had a great trip to Wisconsin, Coach (Barry) Alvarez, Coach (Jeff) Horton and Coach (Kevin) Cosgrove are good coaches and good people and Wisconsin is a good team. I really liked Wisconsin."
Familiarity with the Rainbow coaches helped Curnan finally decide. UH coach Ron Lee is the brother of Cal Lee, the St. Louis head coach.
"Hawaii has good coaches too, Coach (June) Jones and Coach (Ron) Lee are great people. Coach Lee is a great coach and he was an important factor for me in picking Hawaii. If it wasn't for Coach Lee I would have picked Wisconsin. I got to know him in my sophomore year when he was coaching the offense (at St. Louis). I feel comfortable knowing he's one of the coaches."
Curnan, who received All-American recognition three years, led the Crusaders in tackles three straight seasons. In his career, Curnan racked up 332 tackles.
Curnan joins St. Louis classmate Pesefea Fiaseu, a running back who was the Star-Bulletin's Back of the Year, in committing to the Warriors.
Commitments by high school athletes do not become official until national letter of intent day next Wednesday.
FOOTBALL
Prep recruiting
Name Position Ht. Wt. High School Verbal Commitment Ikaika Curnan LB 6-0 230 St. Louis Hawaii Justin Faimealelei Athlete 6-2 205 Kaimuki Hawaii Pesefea Fiaseu RB 5-11 220 St. Louis Hawaii Aaron Francisco Athlete 6-4 190 Kahuku Brigham Young Saia Hafoka WR 5-10 165 Kahuku Brigham Young Kila Kamakawiwo‘ole Athlete 6-2 200 Kaimuki Hawaii Willie Kava OL 6-3 280 Iolani Washington Chris Kemoe‘atu OL/DL 6-5 330 Kahuku Utah Semisi Livai LB 6-0 200 Kahuku Utah Joe Lobendahn LB 6-0 205 St. Louis Washington Lyle Maiava DL 6-2 300 St. Louis Oregon Donovan Raiola OL 6-2 280 Kamehameha Wisconsin *Elia Tauala DL 6-4 275 Roosevelt Utah *Francisco Tipoti OL 6-6 320 McKinley Washington Lokahi Travis OL 6-3 280 Kailua Hawaii *Aukuso Tuiolemotu OL 6-3 300 McKinley San Diego State *Tauala is a junior college transfer from Santa Ana (Calif.) College
*Tipoti is a junior college transfer from City College of San Francisco
*Tuiolemotu is a junior college transfer from City College of San Francisco
UH Athletics
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